Alex's Academic Writing Blog and More

Survey

2012-05-10T11:22:00.002-07:00

Please Take This Survey for my final history project http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8VDHT33

English Final

2011-05-24T08:18:00.001-07:00

    The blogging process has been an interesting experience this year. It was a new way for me to express my feelings over the Internet. I think that while, I like to blog, I will not continue to post as often. I recently found out a new way to track the people that view my blog. That will make it cool to see who views my blog and I will be able to change what I write to cater to who reads it.

    The post that is my favorite and the post that I am most proud of is the vignette post that I modeled after Sandra Cisnero’s book, “The House on Mango Street”. I spent the most time on this post out of any of mine. To more experienced authors, it may not seem like a lot, but to me 1500 words seems like a very high amount. I put the most time and effort by far on this post because I have a much easier time writing about my life instead of something that I don’t necessarily have a strong knowledge about, such as an academic book. I enjoy writing about vivid memories rather than someonelse’s opinion. In the vignettes, I was able to express myself and it did not have to be concrete and it can be a lot subjective.
    To write the vignettes, I started with the ECHO that we did of one of Cisnero’s stories titled “names”. I did some research and asked my parents about why they named me what they did and what it means.

“My names have much significance to me. In Greek, my first name means helper of mankind. To acquire my first name, my parents were traveling in Paris, France when my mom was pregnant with me. They were walking around enjoying the many sights of The City of Lights, when they came across a marble statue of Alexander The Great. They thought that the statue was so magnificent that they wanted to name their son after it.

My middle name was passed down from my grandfather on my mom’s side, his full name was Edwin Martin Quinn. My grandfather was a spy in World War II and he gathered intelligence to help the allies defeat the Germans. He was deceased before I was born, so I was named in his honor. Sometimes people scoff at the name, Edwin, but when I hear this I just smile inside because I know that I was named after a very brave man, brave like a lion.

My last name also has a very interesting story. My great grandfather on my dad’s side was was orphaned by a fire at a young age, at this time his last name, Freund. He was later adopted by his mother parents and he took their last name, Noble. I like the name Noble because it gives me a goal to live up to, to be noble.”

The next vignette I wrote was about how I raised money for the 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. This was a very personal event to write about because I |earned a lot from the whole experience. While I was writing it, I tried to recall the major theme of the memory. I tried to portray it in a story-like format.

“One of the most interesting can donors was a Vietnam war Veteran with a really bad drinking problem. With the consistency of old faithful, he would call over and request to talk me.

Is Alex available?, he would say in an slightly inebriated voice.

Yes I’m here, I would always reply.

I have some recyclables ready for you to pick up, come on down, he would say, barley slurring his words together.

Ok, I’ll be right over, I retorted.

I would always wonder if he was ok when I heard him on the phone because he seemed to always be impaired due to alcohol.

The first time I ever made the trek over to him house, my nose was assaulted with the thick stench of alcohol that wafted from his house. When I saw the three hefty garbage bags full of recyclables, I figured that he had been saving them up for many, many months because of the sheer volume. I happily collected them and hauled them back to my yard. When I looked to investigate my loot, I found that only 25% of the recyclables were actually available for the California Redemption Value. The other 75% filled up all of my blue bin. The next week at the same time, I received a call and went over to my donor, very surprised that he was ready for me to pick up already. I didn't expect it, but there were three full garbage bags of recyclable again! When I looked through the bag, to my dismay, it was full of blue bin clogging items that I would receive no money for. At first I thought of all the extra work that this would cause me to endure, but then I thought about how badly that all that alcohol was affecting my neighbor.

On the trip that I worked so hard to go to, I saw many sights, including the Vietnam War memorial. Later, I thought of how my neighbor was negatively affected by the war and was forced by post-traumatic stress disorder to start drinking the pain away. When I was visiting in DC I sent him a postcard thanking him for the support. To this day, whenever I walk by he will always call me over and talk to me.”

The next vignette I wrote about was my family’s handwriting. This was directly modeled off of Sandra Cisneros’ vignette in her book, “Hairs”. I tried to describe the different members of my family and how their personality connected to how they wrote.

“Everyone in my family has different handwriting. My Dad’s handwriting looks like quick scratch, where every word seems to blend together, but surprisingly it is still readable. My Dad’s messy handwriting is derived from the thousands of papers my Dad has written due to the fact that he is a lawyer. My handwriting is very messy and it closely resembles Dad’s handwriting because we both are bad at keeping it neat. My sister who is 11, has handwriting similar to mine, but it has something mine is lacking, that little girly touch, that all girls seem to have present in their handwriting. My Mom’s handwriting seems to be infused with bubbles because it is very flowy and big and easy to read, much like her personality. She tries to write neatly because she is a teacher and she wants to set a good example for her students. My sister who is 4 has handwriting that I cant categorize yet because she doesn’t write very often, but from what I have seen she might be destined to the fate that is bad handwriting, well I guess it runs in the family.”

While writing this, I tried to connect my family’s persona’s with how there hand writing appeared to me.

All in all, my blog was a good experience for me. I learned how to express myself in a safe environment in front of my peers. It was a nice way to reflect on my blog to finish up the end of the year. I liked to go behind the scenes and explain how and why I wrote what I did. It is a relief to finally be done with this school year; this assignment wrapped up this blog and made me feel accomplished after the reflecting on the whole year.

Daniel X Book Post Final Draft

2011-05-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

The book Daniel X: Watch the Skies, is a fantasy novel by James Patterson and Ned Rust. It is the second book in the Daniel X series. The book follows an alien that takes the form of a fourteen year old human and his job is to hunt down all of the evil aliens inhabiting earth on “the list”. The list is a compilation of all the the aliens on earth. He uses his powerful imagination to produce some sidekicks. He also uses his imagination to produce his family, killed by the List Alien Number One when he was only a small toddler.

I think that this book is intended for teenage boys around fourteen, the main character’s age. This is because the book uses slang and has a storyline that would be appealing to that age because it is full of action that people of that age would enjoy. The main character, Daniel seems to “talk” to the reader as they are his peers. That is good evidence for the hypothesis that this book is meant for teenage boys. I think that if a book is written in the perspective of a certain age, then the readers should be that age in order for them to sympathize with them and understand their thoughts and views.

The main character uses slang from the modern era to relate to the reader and add some comedic interest.

“He moved some wires to different jacks and threw a couple of switches. And then we saw what might have been the most sickening thing I’d ever seen. And yes I’ve been on the Internet before.”

In this quote, Daniel is describing the scene that he saw after hacking into the Alien’s computer. He called it the most sickening thing he had ever seen, even though he has been on the Internet. This is poking fun at some of the Internet pranks that circulate around. This may be funny to the reader because it may connect to their life.

Daniel is a very interesting character because he represents himself in many ways. His best friends are purely figments of his imagination. He expresses different parts of him imagination through his different friends. His friends are physically present and not completely imaginary. They can think for themselves and discover new things even though they are not 100% real. Daniel also creates a family to replace the one that was murdered and to interact with and get advice from. It seems weird to me that he can get advice from them even though he created them from his mind. Therefore he should know everything that they know.

“‘This is great, Dad,’ I said. ‘So how’s everything work?’

‘Its all very user-friendly,’ said Dad. ‘I don’t think any of you will have any trouble getting the hang of it.’”

I think that if all of the stuff that the author says is true in the story, then Daniel should have already known how to work the van and he should not have required any explanation. This is weird because if they come from his imagination, then they should not be intellectually superior to him. The relationship between Daniel and his imaginary companions is very interesting and makes the book better even though the system has a few flaws.

Daniel X: Watch the Skies is a fantasy novel that was a great read. The book follows a young alien hunter that tracks down all of the evil earth dwelling aliens. Daniel chooses to take the form of a fourteen year old boy. On his quest to rid the earth of bad extra terrestrials he references the list, an advanced laptop that keeps all of his information about alien hunting. This book is perfect for fourteen year-old boys because of its voice. The characters are also very interesting to read about and hear about their weird connections. Overall, this was a very good book.

Blog responses

2011-05-02T23:05:00.001-07:00

Melissa
I agree that you need to add the TAGS in the introduction of your review. That would help the audience understand what the book was about. It would be more clear if you differentiated between the questions that you answered.I would like to hear a more detailed summary at the beginning of the post so I could understand the plot better.

Rocky
I liked the way that you were very thorough when you introduced the book in the beginning. This helped me understand the rest of the post because I knew some background about the book. It would be more clear if you differentiated between the questions that you answered.

Jesse
You need to add an introduction to your post because you sort of just jumped in to the post and I was not prepared to read the post. I liked the way that you introduced each question at the top. That really helped me understand what question was being answered.

Daniel X Book Review (Draft)

2011-05-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

“‘This is great, Dad,’ I said. ‘So how’s everything work?’

‘Its all very user-friendly,’ said Dad. ‘I don’t think any of you will have any trouble getting the hang of it.’”

Daniel X Book Post 2

2011-04-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.

“‘This is great, Dad,’ I said. ‘So how’s everything work?’

‘Its all very user-friendly,’ said Dad. ‘I don’t think any of you will have any trouble getting the hang of it.’”

Daniel X: Book Post One

2011-04-06T19:20:00.001-07:00

For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?
    The book Daniel X: Watch the Skies, is a fantasy novel by James Patterson and Ned Rust. It is the second book in the Daniel X series. The book follows an alien that takes the form of a fourteen year old human and his job is to hunt down all of the evil aliens inhabiting earth on “the list”. The list is a compilation of all the the aliens on earth. He uses his powerful imagination to produce some sidekicks. He also uses his imagination to produce his family, killed by the List Alien Number One when he was only a small toddler.

    I think that this book is intended for teenage boys around fourteen, the main character’s age. This is because the book uses slang and has a storyline that would be appealing to that age because it is full of action that people of that age would enjoy. The main character, Daniel seems to “talk” to the reader as they are his peers. That is good evidence for the hypothesis that this book is meant for teenage boys. I think that if a book is written in the perspective of a certain age, then the readers should be that age in order for them to sympathize with them and understand their thoughts and views.

    The main character uses slang from the modern era to relate to the reader and add some comedic interest.

“He moved some wires to different jacks and threw a couple of switches. And then we saw what might have been the most sickening thing I’d ever seen. And yes I’ve been on the Internet before.”

In this quote, Daniel is describing the scene that he saw after hacking into the Alien’s computer. He called it the most sickening thing he had ever seen, even though he has been on the Internet. This is poking fun at some of the Internet pranks that circulate around. This may be funny to the reader because it may connect to their life.

Vignette Project Review

2011-04-01T22:39:00.001-07:00

In the vignette project our class recently finished, there were many personal stories. I found a similarity that ran through several vignette. It was that people talk about their names and the origins of them. I think that this is because peoples’ name can define who they are. I think it is interesting to here about the names of my peers because it gives me insight about their background.

I found a quote on Victor Liangs vignette that described what his name meant to the person who gave it to him and what it means in languages.

“My first name, Victor, was given to be by my father. It means “winner”, something my father wants me to be. My middle name, Tao, means large waves. It is also my Chinese name, and is pronounced tou in Cantonese. There isn't much behind my father giving it to me for he gave it to me just as randomly as he gave my first name to me.”

It is interesting to see what Victor’s name means in English as well as in Chinese. I think that the definition, large waves, can partially describe Victor’s personality.
Yen has a different story to tell about his name.
“My parents picked this because they thought that it would be easier to fit in to the community, but I have always found it more difficult because I always want to correct people, but they think that they have already pronounced it correctly. You see, when someone has a really Asian name, the teacher or anyone new would ask if they pronounced it correctly, but with yen, they pronounce it like the Japanese currency and move on.”
Yen also has some background about his name. The troubles that he has had with the pronunciation and integrating into the community. He indirectly brings up the point that when parents are choosing a name for their kids they should consider the repercussions that the kid might have to face later in life regarding the name.
I enjoyed looking at my peers’ blog posts and it was interesting to make connections between them.

House on Mango Street: Where is Esperanza Going?

2011-03-25T23:53:00.001-07:00

The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is a collection of vignettes that tells a Coming-of-Age-Story told through the eyes of an adolescent girl.I think that Esperanza will leave her home and not return. She has waited her whole life to get out of her house on Mango street because she is embarrassed by it and she does not like living there. At the first chance she gets, she will leave and try to forget the negative years on Mango street. In the beginning of the book and the end of the book, Esperanza states a list of all the places she has lived. “We didn’t always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler it was Paulina, but what I remember most is Mango Street, sad red house, the house I belong but do not belong to(109-10)”. When I read this, I got the feeling that Esperanza does not like any of the houses that she has lived in. She seems to really care about where she lives and it reflects in her feelings. She had such a negative idea in her mind about her house that she would never want to return to it.

In the second to last vignette in The House on Mango Street, Esperanza describes her perfect house and all of the conditions to make it perfect. “Not a flat. Not an apartment in back. Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s. A house all my own... Nobody to shake a stick at. Nobody’s garbage to pick up after.” In this quote, Esperanza is describing her perfect house. She seems so attached to this idea, that if she were to leave, then I highly doubt that she would return because her house that she would find would be great. She seems to resent the work that she has to do when she says she does not want to pick up after anyone. That would be another reason for her not to return, because she might have to do more work and that was one of the main reasons she would have left.

House on Mango Street: Gender Differences

2011-03-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

I think that girls and boys should be raised the same, because there should equality for all. Sandra Cisneros, author of “The House on Mango Street”, a Coming-of-age story, would has a similar idea on that issue. She shows her view point on the issue with this quote. “There is always the one with red lips who is beautiful and cruel.” With this quote, she is saying that girls should embrace their feminine side and should not let men control them and let them keep their independence. I think that this quote is saying that their is always an extra independent woman that controls people and does the opposite that the stereotypical women in Esperanza’s life. I think that it is interesting that Sandra Cisneros conveys how she thinks people should be raised in her book.

The next quote that exemplifies Cisneros’ ideas about gender differences in her book. “All the books and magazines, every thing they told you is wrong” (100). I think that this quote is saying that Esperanza's expectations for what is males and females is different than the media, and that confused her. Sandra Cisneros, is trying to say that the expectations by the media and the actual expectations can be very confusing to people that are Esperanza’s adolescent age. This quote gives a very good idea about how Cisneros views the modern media and how it can drastically affect the expectations of teenagers.

The next quote is showing how important it is to a character to be noticed by the opposite sex. “What matters, Marin says, is for the boys to see us and for us to see them.”(27). This quote is by, Marin, an older female figure that Esperanza looks up to. This quote seems to be saying that girls and boys are raised differently in this society and that Cisneros is agreeing with this. She is also saying that physical attractiveness and appearance are important. Boys and girls are not raised to look deeper into personality. I think that this is a problem, because personality is important too.

This and That from My Life

2011-03-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

1. My Name
2. Cans
3.Handwriting
4.Number 5

My Name

My names have much significance to me. In Greek, my first name means helper of mankind. To acquire my first name, my parents were traveling in Paris, France when my mom was pregnant with me. They were walking around enjoying the many sights of The City of Lights, when they came across a marble statue of Alexander The Great. They thought that the statue was so magnificent that they wanted to name their son after it.

Cans

When I was trying to earn money for a Washington DC trip as an 8th grader I collected cans, plastic bottles, and glass bottles. At the beginning, I handed out fliers that asked for recyclables. There were many different types of can donors, the pick-ups and the drop-offs. To acquire cans from the pick-ups, I would take my wagon over to their house and load it up with the goods. For the drop-offs, they would kindly drop off anything that they had to offer. Between these groups, their were many differences. The people who dropped off seemed way more organized. Some people who I picked up from would put anything in the bag, from salsa containers to orange juice cartons that were still full, neither of them weren’t worth any California redemption value. One of the most interesting can donors was a Vietnam war Veteran with a really bad drinking problem. With the consistency of old faithful, he would call over and request to talk me.

Is Alex available?, he would say in an slightly inebriated voice.

Yes I’m here, I would always reply.

I have some recyclables ready for you to pick up, come on down, he would say, barley slurring his words together.

Ok, I’ll be right over, I retorted.

I would always wonder if he was ok when I heard him on the phone because he seemed to always be impaired due to alcohol.

Handwriting

Everyone in my family has different handwriting. My Dad’s handwriting looks like quick scratch, where every word seems to blend together, but surprisingly it is still readable. My Dad’s messy handwriting is derived from the thousands of papers my Dad has written due to the fact that he is a lawyer. My handwriting is very messy and it closely resembles Dad’s handwriting because we both are bad at keeping it neat. My sister who is 11, has handwriting similar to mine, but it has something mine is lacking, that little girly touch, that all girls seem to have present in their handwriting. My Mom’s handwriting seems to be infused with bubbles because it is very flowy and big and easy to read, much like her personality. She tries to write neatly because she is a teacher and she wants to set a good example for her students. My sister who is 4 has handwriting that I cant categorize yet because she doesn’t write very often, but from what I have seen she might be destined to the fate that is bad handwriting, well I guess it runs in the family.

Number Five

    My sister and I sensed some big news as we ate spaghetti and meatballs at the kitchen table. My dad`s fidgeting and my mom`s unusual silence signaled the coming changes. In the days before, my parents dropped subtle hints about the special surprise but my sister and I did not understand them. When my dad noticed my puzzled expression, he said, “We are having a baby!” Screams and cheers of approval and sheer happiness erupted from the kid’s side of the table while my parents beamed at the positive reaction. The cheers and applause sounding like we won the lottery.When he said that, I knew a monumental transformation would enter my life. My mind raced. Would it be a boy or a girl? Would it look like me? Would we have to share a room? Would I have to change diapers!?!
    Before I knew it, my mom turned into even more of a health nut. She dragged me and any other unsuspecting family member on vigorous walks, ate strangely named vitamins that I recognized from aggressive commercials and drank lots of herbal tea that smelled earthy like our compost pile to coax the baby out. Instead of watching television, our family past time turned into feeling my mom’s belly for kicks and movements.
    In a flash, the eve of the big day arrived, the arrangements were made and everyone was ready for the arrival of the newest Noble. We did not know if she would arrive on her due date. We eagerly awaited her arrival. On the Friday before her due date, my mom walked us to school before her doctor’s appointment. She did not come to pick us up after school as usual. Our neighbor picked us up and told us that our mom was in the hospital having the baby.
    Early next morning my dad picked my sister and me up to go visit my mom and new sister. My dad asked us if we wanted to get balloons to make the new baby feel welcome but my sister and I quickly refused because we did not want to wait any longer. On the drive to the hospital I interrogated my dad on the labor, he said it was quick and easy (for him at least, my mom had a different story).
    When we got to the hospital room, her tininess and fragileness confounded me; afraid to even touch her for fear of hurting her. She looked like a little glass doll, free of imperfections. I could tell from the sweet innocent look on her face as I held her that we were going to be very close. At that moment I was genuinely happy to have a baby sister.
    My newborn sister got the name “number five” by being the fifth person in the west coast Noble family. My dad tried to use this numbering system for all of us, but it never took flight similar to the idea of room cleaning. The only person stuck with this cheesy nickname was Allison Katherine Noble.

House on Mango Street Symbolism: Trees

2011-03-11T21:59:00.001-08:00

The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is a collection of vignettes told through the eyes of an adolescent girl. There is a lot of symbolism in this book including trees, which are very symbolic. In the book, Esperanza expresses admiration for trees and how they “work together”. In the vignette, “Skinny Trees” Esperanza compares herself to the trees. “They are the only ones who understand me. I am the only one who understands them. Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine. Four who do not belong but are here... But Nenny just sleeps and doesn’t appreciate these things”(page 74). In this quote, Esperanza is comparing herself with the trees when she says that they both don’t belong here. By saying this, I think that she is admiring them because, like her, the trees are surviving hardship and staying in a bad place even though they don't belong.

The tree in Meme Ortiz’s backyard is a symbol to Esperanza that even though she is in a bad neighborhood now, she can still grow up and have a life. “ Around the back is a yard, mostly dirt, and a greasy bunch of boards that used to be a garage. But what you remember most is this tree, huge, with fat arms and mighty... higher branches.”(page 22) In this quote Esperanza is admiring the strong tree that grew from almost nothing in the bad part of her town. I think that she want to be like this tree and grow up against the hardships that are put against her by society.

I think that Esperanza personifies the trees to make them seem human. When she personifies, she gives them the aspect of sympathy. She shows this when she says, “I had to hide myself at the other end of the garden, in the jungle part, under a tree that wouldn't mind if I lay down and cried a long time.”(page 97) In this quote, she is very upset and she needs to find a place to let out her emotions. Since the trees are something that she has a lot in common with, that is the first place she goes to find shelter. Trees represent a big part of Esperanza’s life because they share many of the same feelings.

The House on Mango Street Post 1

2011-03-04T23:34:00.000-08:00

     The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is a collection of vignettes told through the eyes of an adolescent girl. There is a lot of symbolism in this book including windows, which are very symbolic. In this book, windows mean being trapped. When ever windows are mentioned it is referring to the person being trapped. “She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow.”(page 11) In this quote, Esperanza is describing the life of her grandmother, who she shares a name with. I think that Esperanza thinks that her grandmother looked out the window her whole life and had no time to go out and explore the world. I think that Esperanza is scared that she might be subject to the same fate of a life that doesn't get to do anything. This seems like a horrible way to spend a life, especially constantly being taunted by whatever you might see out of the window.

    Another person in the story who has an experience with windows is Mamacita, one of Esperanza’s many neighbors. Mamacita is someone who doesn't speak English and just sits around in her room all day. “ She sits all day by the window and plays the spanish radio show and sings all the homesick songs about her country in a voice that sounds like a seagull.” (77) I think that she is trapped by the language barrier that separated her from the rest of society. Since she couldnt communicate with the rest of the neighborhood, she just sat and sang sad songs that reminded her of her home country and made her even sadder because she can never go back or leave her window perch.

    Rafaela is another one of Esperanza’s neighbors. She is married and is contained by the windows, just like many of the other characters. “And then Rafaela, who is still young but getting old from leaning out the window so much, gets locked indoor because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at.” (79) This quote explains that Rafaela is trapped in her own house looking out the window, but she cant go anywhere because she is confined to her house by her husband, who doesnt want to lose her. The symbolic window makes many appearances in The House on Mango Street.

The Color Purple: Compare and Contrast

2011-02-24T18:22:00.000-08:00

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a epistolary nove l about two sisters. Both of them have very similar experiences but in different situations due to the fact that they live thousands of miles apart. Celie lives in the United States and Nettie lives as a missionary for the majority of her life. They have very different ideas about religion. They have also had similar experiences in gender and racial inequality.

Celie and Nettie are very different in their religious beliefs throughout the novel. Celie doesn't really believe in God, as explains she to Nettie here, “I didn't write to God no more. I write to you. Who that? I say... What God for me?”.(page 192) Celie explains that she doesn't believe in God because she has no proof he exists and he hasn't done anything for her. On the other hand, Nettie is very serious in her religious beliefs, so much so that she goes as a missionary to Africa and tries to teach the Olinka people to be Christian . Celie may believe in spirits if she doesn't believe in God, this is shown here, “Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear people. Dear Everything.”(page 285) I think that this shows that Celie’s relationship with God affects how he life is doing at the time. For instance, this quote happens right when Nettie comes home with Celie's children. Nettie is really loyal to God, especially when she shows so much sorrow after the church is destroyed.

Celie and Nettie have both experienced gender inequality throughout their very different lives. Celie would be much more appreciated in Nettie`s life because she is a hard worker and she doesn't have enough confidence to speak up for herself and resist the oppression applied by men. Nettie would be more appreciated in Celie`s life because she is educated and opinionated. To the modern society, it is important for all women to be educated. To the Olinka, women are just used for working, not anything intellectual. Africa only values women that don’t question the superiority of men. Celie has had very negative experiences with men, such as when her “father” (who turns out to not actually be her father) rapes her and when she is married off at a very young age, to an abusive husband. In Nettie’s case, she has had an O.K. experience with men. This is shown when she gets to choose her own husband, something that Celie wasn't fortunate enough to do. Nettie marries her old friend Samuel, who treates her much better than Mr. treates Celie. Near the end of the book, Celie is finally able to stand up to Mr. and get her “freedom”. Nettie, on the other hand, can’t overcome gender inequality because of the primitive African culture, which says that women can’t have rights or an opinion.

Celie experiences racial inequality a lot more than Nettie. Celie lives in a time and place where there is racism everywhere. She cannot overcome racial inequality because white oppression is too strong. The story of Sofia is a good example of white oppression of black people. I Sofia is more or less “enslaved” by the mayor’s wife as shown:

     “All of your children so clean, she say,     would you like to work for me, be my maid?
     Sofia say, Hell no.       Mayor look at Sofia, push his wife out the way. Stick out his chest.          Girl,what you say to Miss Millie?
     Sofia say, Hell no.
     He slap her.”

Sadly, after this part in this book, Sofia is forced to become a maid or rot in jail. It is sad that one group has so much power over another, enough, that someone of the superior group can just demand that a person work for them. That is the brutality of the racism that Celie constantly experiences. Nettie is lucky enough not to have experienced that much racism in her life in Africa. This is because in Africa everyone is black so there is no difference in race and there cannot be any racism. The only racism I noticed in Nettie’s life was on the ship ride home. She saw an old lady traveling with a little black boy who she described as her grandchild. Every person on the ship gave the couple weird looks throughout the trip.

    In their lives, Celie and Nettie have both experienced gender and racial inequality. Their religious views can be compared because they are similar and different. I think Alice Walker wrote this book to convey the difference between African and American culture. She did this by writing about two sisters that have very different lives but experience many of the same problems.

Rebutting Cristians Post

2011-01-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

Im rebutting, my honorable friend Cristian’s opening statement of his proponent views on Wikileaks. His quote “thesis statement” is poorly worded with bad grammar.

“There purpose is to benefit society by doing this, not harm it.”

In this thesis statement, he lazily misspells a simple 2nd reading level word. I think that mistakes like this should be carefully looked for before trying to persuade anyone to agree with their view. Another thing that Cristian could do to be more persuasive is to capitalize the word Wikileaks to show that he thinks it is proper.

Cristian also says makes a point but does nothing to back it up, therefore it isnt very persuasive.
“Our government does things in our nations name that we might not be proud of.”

He says this, but then gives no proof whatsoever to show that our country does thing that we aren't proud of. If I was reading this with an unbiased opinion, I would not be even slightly convinced that Cristian’s views should be my views too.

Cristian defines the word “democracy” by using a cheesy dictionary.com definition. If he was going to be more professional, then he should use a more credible source, such as Webster's Dictionary. Webster’s Dictionary is a widely known resource that can be more trustworthy that “dictionary.com”.

Another flaw in Cristian’s opening statement is that he doesn't even explain his topic, Wikileaks, until the very last paragraph and to be honest, he doesn't do a very good job at it.

In this quote, Cristian makes the highlight of his whole post.

“In Tunisia, the President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, has been ruling Tunisia with an "iron fist" claims New York Times and The Atlantic. However the news of this has been sort of shut off to the rest of the world, if i read this correctly, and that, since wikileaks leaked this, the President was driven out to exile. This is, of course is a good thing because he was basically a dictator and censorship-leader.”

I think that he makes a good point when he quotes an actual source and takes a current event to make a valid point.

2011-01-21T17:00:00.000-08:00

Should parents be allowed to manipulate their children's DNA?

Alex Noble

I think gene the manipulation of DNA is wrong, because it isn't fair for the kids that are being manipulated.

I am against the manipulation of DNA for several reasons. One of them is that there can be mistakes made that can ruin the baby. If the DNA isn’t changed correctly, then serious consequences will happen.
“There is no guarantee that the viral enzyme that is responsible for this step will be able to introduce the correct gene at the specific point in the host chromosome. In case, there is an error in this process, it would result in error in the genetic makeup of the cell and can result in serious disorders.”(full article)
This means that the enzyme the genetic engineers are inserting could be placed in the wrong section of the chromosome, that could cause genetic mutations and possibly cancer. That is a risk I would not want to take with my body or someones that couldn't consent.
Another reason that gene therapy is a bad idea is that your bodies natural instinct is to reject the inserted DNA when it divides.
“Then there are problems with introducing therapeutic DNA and the rapidly dividing nature of certain cells that are hurdles in gene therapy providing long term benefits to patients. Due to this reason a patient may need to undergo multiple gene therapy treatments. But with this again comes the problem of the immune system. Once the immune system is triggered by a foreign body, it attacks the foreign body more aggressively when it invades the body next time.”
Would you really want to put something in your body that even your body knows is wrong? I think any rational person would know not to use gene therapy. Personally, I think it is a very bad choice.
A parent should think about the child’s feelings before attempting gene therapy. When the child grows up, the parents will eventually have to tell the kid about the procedure. It would make a kid feel like they were inadequate because their parents felt the need to change their body even before they knew each other.

My Resume

2011-01-14T20:44:00.000-08:00

This is a free post, so I thought I would do something interesting and post a Resume of me.

                                                                Alexander Edwin Noble
                                                                  Alameda,CA
    Education
2007-Present                           Lincoln Middle School, Alameda, CA
                •    Cumulative Grade Point Average: 3.224
                •    Expected date of graduation: June 14, 2010
                •    Emphasis on: Short Stop Motion Film Making
Experience
2007-Present            Historian, Lincoln Middle School, Alameda, CA
                •    Researched the art of Egyptian mummy making and devised a 12 page report depicting the fascinating process of mummification and the lore associated with ancient Egyptian culture
                •    Constructed 26 artifacts with well-researched summaries relating to all of the ancient cultures studied in Medieval and Early Modern Times
2007-Present            Writer, Lincoln Middle School, Alameda, CA
                •    Penned 27 essays that ranged from “How to make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich” to “Out My Bedroom Window;” all essays demanded creativity and interest in the subject
                •    Compiled all essays into a storybook format that showcased every essay written in 7th grade
2007-Present            Scientist, Lincoln Middle School, Alameda, CA
                •    Utilized the Scientific Method during the Egg Drop experiment by hypothesizing about the outcome and then designing a pod to protect the egg and to ensure its survival
                •    Endured the monotony of studying a slow developing biosphere filled with various flora and fauna
Activities
2005-Present            Football Player, Alameda Pirates, Alameda, CA
                •    Awarded most improved player by going from a novice player to a seasoned veteran
                •    Contributed to two undefeated regular seasons and triumphed in the championship two years in a row
                •    Advanced from 3rd string all the way to 1st string by learning the basics of football and succeeding
                •    Applied the lifeskills of perseverance and commitment by participating in every practice of the year
2006-Present            Short Film Maker, 1534 Eastshore Drive Alameda, CA
                •    Obtained a Cannon Cybershottm to film stop motion movies
                •    Filmed and directed over 20 stop-action movies that contained different plots such as a remake of the “Blob” and a short western about a saloon
                •    Molded clay characters using clay and wire for the frame to star in the movies along with Lego characters
                •    Computed with Windows Movie Maker to edit and add special effects
2007-Present            Lincoln Band Member, Lincoln Middle School Band, Alameda, CA
                •    Acquired the skills to survive the grueling heat of the summer in the 3½ mile long trek known as the Alameda 4th of July Parade
                •    Performed western songs such as “Howdy Pardner,” “Wild Wild West” and “Blazing Saddles”
                •    Developed patience while reading and memorizing elaborate music

Response to Billys Post on Global Warming

2011-01-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

I found a post on google reader about global warming and the environment by Billy Lau and I thought it was very interesting. I liked that he used actual evidence in his post because it made it a lot more persuasive. In Billy’s post, he described ways that global warming happens and ways to address it. I think it is a good idea to educate youth about this topic because it can help prevent it and stop it from getting worse. I also think educating the younger generations can inspire them to save the earth and think of new ideas and ways of conserving natural resources.

Scientists think that the Earth is getting warmer because of green-house gas. People need to change their ways and stop polluting the air and to save more electricity. Twenty percent of scientists say that global warming is just another natural occurrence. In the past, there were some Ice age and other times the Earth has gotten hot ,so people think it is normal. However, many scientist opposed this because they say that the Earth has gotten hotter than ever and the Co2 in the atmosphere has increased dramatically. Scientist have found ways to solve this problem and one of them is to use fuel efficient cars. Most pollution in the air are caused by trucks and cars because we use them everyday. The burning of fossil fuels or coals in big companies and industries also affect the Earth. It is hard to stop these companies because they are making Big Bucks. The Earth is dying because we don’t solve our own problems of letting gases in the air. As a nation together we can stop global warming by a huge percentage and save the next generations of our kids.”

I think that Billy gives good points in this essay explaining the reasons of global warming and getting in to the science of it. I think billy did a good job persuading people to be good to the environment because he used fun facts that made sense and were interesting.

Does it matter where you go to college? A 7-way Debate Response

2011-01-14T19:46:00.001-08:00

Out of all these responses, I thought that the What You Do vs. Where You Go response was the most persuasive out of all them because it made the most sense to me and I agreed with the points made. One of the points that I thought was very persuasive was the summary of of an event at a high school run by the guidance councilors.

“They hold posters featuring the names and faces of famous people while their peers and parents shout out with confidence the names of elite colleges they assume the celebrities attended. The key to success in college and beyond has more to do with what students do with their time in college than where they choose to attend. The “oohs” and “aahs” follow as the audience learns that Steven Spielberg, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates dropped out of college, that Oprah Winfrey is an alumna of Tennessee State and that Ken Burns graduated from Hampshire College.” (O'Connell paragraph 1).

I think that this quote perfectly illustrates the point that is attempted to be made in this debate response because it shows that people that are celebrities that are worth millions of dollars didn't even go to “elite colleges” and they are still some of the most successful people of today.

One of the least persuasive responses in my opinion is Skip the Admissions Game by Kevin Carey. I think that he gives an arrogant aura when he writes things like: “They're nice places to hang out for four years and you'll probably learn a few things. Even if you don't, you'll still get a piece of paper signifying that you were smart enough to get in and rich enough to pay for it. People care about stuff like that. “

I think that if he was a little bit more polite and less “know-it-allish” then I would be more willing to listen and consider his idea and point of view. I find it hard to read and process papers when they have a hard to understand sense of humor.

Overacheivers Reflection

2010-12-17T17:54:00.000-08:00

When I think of top colleges, Harvard and Yale come to mind. Coincidentally, they are the top colleges in the country. That is part if the reasons I think that they are the top colleges. These are also the colleges that my extended family went to for some school and now they are successful doctors. Harvard and Yale are special because they are both Ivy League schools. Ivy league schools are known for how hard they are to get into and the level of intelligence of people that go to them. When most people hear that someone graduated from an Ivy League school they instantly assume that they are of high intelligence.
My dream University would be a social campus but also have strong academics. I would also prefer a modern looking campus with updated technology and professors that enjoy teaching. I would want the college to be located close to home but far enough away so I could live in an apartment or dormitory. On the other hand, I would love to go to school near the snow so I could be a snowboarding instructor or ski patrol. My dream university would be near a good ski resort. I would want the college to have courses relating to computers and programming or cinematography. The college would have a good student center to do homework and get supplies for college life. During my four years of college, I would hope to decide want I would want my profession to be and which graduate schoo1 I would go to. I would also like to make a tight group of friends that were interested in the same line of work as me, so we could go to the same classes, study together, and maybe even look for work together. I would also like to enjoy some safe, legal, celebrations after big events in the college world.

Enders Game Post 3

2010-12-17T17:49:00.001-08:00

The science fiction novel, Ender’s Game, is about a futuristic society where Earth fights wars with alien planets. The main character, Ender, was only permitted to be born because he has the potential to be a military genius. His older sister was too nice, and his older brother was too mean, the government expected Ender to be the perfect balance. As soon as he turns six and his monitor was removed, Ender was shipped off to battle school to become a commander. During battle school, he starts in the lowest class, launchies or people that just came to battle school, and gets drafted to a practice army. During his time at battle school, he works his way up the ranks all the way to commander of his own practice army. While reading this book, you also hear about Ender’s siblings as they command the “nets” with their ghost writings about politics.

Ender is a very interesting character because he is so different from other people is age. He is a child genius, just like his brother and sister. A post about them can be found here. Because Ender is such a genius, he gets oppressed by people that are jealous of him. For example, most other commanders are not anywhere near as skilled as Ender and he easily crushes them in completely unfair battles. Most of the commanders envy his ability to control the battle and always win and they are nice and try to learn his secrets. But some feel bad that they aren't as good as him and they try to hurt him and isolate him.

“Bonzo stopped smiling. It was the thing that he hated most about Ender, that Ender matttered to other people, and in the end, Bonzo did not. You have killed me with those words, Dink. Bonzo does not want to hear that I might save the world.”

In this quote, Ender is talking to Bonzo about how he is jealous because Ender has the potential to win the war. Ender is very good at playing mind games to make Bonzo feel inferior.

Trouble in the Water Narritive

2010-12-11T16:20:00.001-08:00

It was a tropical day on the beautiful main island of Hawaii and I just arrived at Magic Sands beach with my family. I later learned that the beach had earned its name due to its constantly changing conditions. The sand moves where the waves break and uncovers dangerous rocks that often give swimmers cuts on their feet. The white sand reflected the blinding rays of the sun and burned the image of the beach in my head. The waves towered over any boogie boarder and smashed down with a deafening sound. As soon as my protective mom saw the treachery of the waves, she strictly said that my ten year old sister could only go in the water up to her ankle and my two year old sister couldn't put her big toe in the water. I was the oldest child in the family, so my mom had no restrictions except a weary warning to be careful. I didn't give much thought to it as I recklessly dived in to the raging ocean.

As soon as my body adjusted to the pleasantly cool water, I noticed the strong under-toe, but quickly put it in the back of my mind. Soon, my dad and I started to frolic in the water. We raced from one side of the beach to the other, constantly fighting the current but not taking much notice because of all the fun we were having. I was having an amazing time, until things turned dangerous.

With every time we crossed the water, the brutality of the waves seemed to increase. I found myself struggling to stay above the water. As soon as my dad recognized the trouble I was having, he suggested that we get out of the water soon. I knew that the surf was getting extreme when the local boogie boarders started to head to the shore due to the exceedingly rough conditions. As I glanced to the shore, I saw a frantic expression coming from my mom, at that time I felt guilty for putting myself in this situation.

As my dad signaled me to make my way back to the beach, I started to take a couple strokes toward the shore. Before I could make it half way back to the coast, a violent set of waves assaulted me, slamming me against the rocks on the seafloor. I was flailing on in the water, when I felt the clench of my father`s hand, but with another crashing wave there was one hundred yards of water between us.

Enders Game Book Post

2010-12-11T16:16:00.001-08:00

I think the authors purpose of this book is to show how different Ender and his siblings are from the rest of people in their age group because they are child geniuses. The only way Ender’s brother and sister can express their advanced political feelings is by creating fake names and writing columns. At first they used their father’s internet access, but as they came more popular they got sponsored. The way they can afford the service of the “nets” is that the companies that hire them pay for their column with net service because they are minors and can’t buy it themselves.

“With their identities now fully supported by their income from writing columns, they used fathers access now only for the throwaway identities”

This quote shows how the kids used their money to pay for their identities and not other things other kids their age would. They spend so much time on the internet managing their alter egos that they dont get out and play, like other, non-genius kids. Ender’s siblings are very different from other kids because they think so advanced for anyone their age, so they can relate more to adults that they write for on the nets.

Ender's Game Book Post

2010-12-04T15:45:00.001-08:00

I think the authors purpose in writing this book is to show how affective good leadership skills and smarts is for leading a group. In Ender’s Game, Ender is given an army of very unskilled students - most of them were launchies. The principals of the school don’t even allow him to trade away players that he doesn't get along with.

“Almost thirty of his soldiers were new, straight out of their launch group, completly inexperienced in battle. Some were even underage, the ones... were pathetically small. Ender reminded himself that that’s how he must have looked to Bonzo Madrid when he first arrived.”

Even though almost all of his army is small and young, Ender can still understand how they feel because he was in the same situation. This is a very important quality for a leader to have, especially in Ender’s situation. He strives to be different from Bonzo Madrid because he was such a tyrant of a leader.

The principals of the school make it very unfair because Ender cant perform trades to get rid of weaker players that are unable to listen. Ender can easily overcome this obstacle by getting along with everybody and using good management skills. I think this is a way of showing the principals that they cant do anything to make Ender fail.

Narritive of Meeting my New Sister

2010-12-03T16:55:00.000-08:00

My sister and I sensed some big news as we ate spaghetti and meatballs at the kitchen table. My dad`s fidgeting and my mom`s unusual silence signaled the coming changes. In the days before, my parents dropped subtle hints about the special surprise but my sister and I did not understand them. When my dad noticed my puzzled expression, he said, “We are having a baby!”. Screams and cheers of approval and sheer happiness erupted from the kid’s side of the table while my parents beamed at the positive reaction. When he said that, I knew a monumental transformation would enter my life. My mind raced. Would it be a boy or a girl? Would it look like me? Would we have to share a room? Would I have to change diapers!?!
    Before I knew it, my mom turned into even more of a health nut. She dragged me and any other unsuspecting family member on vigorous walks, ate strangely named vitamins that I recognized from aggressive commercials and drank lots of weird smelling herbal tea to coax the baby out. Instead of watching television, our family past time turned into feeling my mom’s belly for kicks and movements.
    In a flash, the eve of the big day arrived, the arrangements were made and everyone was ready for the arrival of the newest Noble. We did not know if she would arrive on her due date. We eagerly awaited her arrival. On the Friday before her due date, my mom walked us to school before her doctor’s appointment. She did not come to pick us up after school as usual. Our neighbor picked us up and told us that our mom was in the hospital having the baby.
    Early next morning my dad picked my sister and me up to go visit my mom and new sister. My dad asked us if we wanted to get balloons to make the new baby feel welcome but my sister and I quickly refused because we did not want to wait any longer. On the drive to the hospital I interrogated my dad on the labor, he said it was quick and easy (for him at least, my mom had a different story).
    When we got to the hospital room, her tinyness and fragileness confounded me; afraid to even touch her for fear of hurting her. I could tell from the sweet innocent look on her face as I held her that we were going to be very close. At that moment I was genuinely happy to have a baby sister. Nowadays Im not so sure. ;)